MEDICAL EXAMINER: Cause Of Death In Aimee Pitt Death Was Hanging

The Medical Examiner's Office says the cause of death for a young Tarboro woman who had been missing was hanging.

Aimee Pitt was last seen December 30th and her body found last Wednesday night inside the Tarboro home that she shared with her boyfriend. The date of her death has been listed as December 30th.

The Pitt County Medical Examiner's Office says still pending is the manner of death, such as whether it was a homicide or suicide.

Pitt's funeral was this morning in her hometown of Pinetops.

In a search warrant Tarboro police obtained for searching the home they listed the crime being investigated as a murder. No one has been charged in connection with the death.

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A woman whose body was found last week in her home after being missing for nearly three weeks will be buried Wednesday.

The funeral for Aimee Pitt will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at the United Methodist Church in Pinetops.

The visitation was Tuesday night at the Carlisle Funeral Home in Tarboro.

In the meantime, the question of how the young woman died could be answered soon.

Tarboro Police said they expected the medical examiner to release the coroner's report Tuesday, but WITN was told by the medical examiner's office that the case was still under investigation.

Pitt's body was transferred to the medical examiner after it was discovered in the home in Tarboro she shared with her boyfriend last week.

The search warrant that allowed police to search the home on Newsome St. specified it was looking for evidence of relationship problems between Pitt and her boyfriend, Ben Harrelson. He is not facing any charges in Pitt's death.

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Tarboro Police say no one has been charged in the death of Aimee Pitt, a woman found dead last week in the home she shared with her boyfriend. Pitt had been missing for three weeks.

Police say the investigation is continuing.

Meanwhile, the victim's boyfriend has been released from the hospital after nearly two weeks there, recovering from a high-speed, single-car wreck in Halifax County. The Highway Patrol says Ben Harrelson crashed into a sign at 2 a.m. after driving 90 mph in a 55 mph zone on Highway 258 near Scotland Neck. The wreck happened on January 8. Police say Harrelson was released from the hospital Friday, January 21.

Many living in Tarboro and in nearby Pinetops, where Pitt's father works, continue to grieve and offer support to her family. Marshall Dunn says, "I want to let them know that the community is standing behind them and they have our love, and we really have a deep-felt feeling for their situation."

It's still unclear how Pitt was killed. The medical examiner is expected to soon sign the death certificate, which will reveal the coroner's determination on the cause of death.

PREVIOUS STORY: The Tarboro Police Department confirms a body found at a home on Newsome Street Wednesday is that of Aimee Pitt, a woman reported missing about 3 weeks ago. Police say the medical examiner confirmed the identity late this afternoon through dental records.

The 22-year-old woman was reported missing January 3rd, and friends say she was last seen by her boyfriend in the home they shared on Newsome Street December 30th.

PREVIOUS STORY:A search warrant that Tarboro police used to find a body in a missing woman's home says authorities are investigating a murder.

The white female's body has not been officially identified, but it was found in the home where Aimee Pitt lived with her boyfriend, Ben Harrelson. Pitt was last seen on December 30th and reported missing on January 3rd.

In two search warrants, obtained by WITN News today, police said they needed the warrant to seize property that "constitutes evidence of a crime and the identity of a person participating in a crime." The crime listed in the application was murder.

In the application for the warrant, Tarboro police say Harrelson told them that he returned from work on December 30th and found Pitt under the influence of alcohol. He claims they had a verbal dispute then he went to bed and she stayed up. Harrelson said he heard the phone ring twice during the night and then in the morning he found Pitt gone.

The warrant says a friend of Harrelson later told police that on that night Harrelson came to his home at 11:00 p.m. and stayed until 12:30 a.m. Police said that contradicts Harrelson's statement that he immediately went home after work.

The warrant also says police interviewed another friend of Harrelson who told them that on December 30th Harrelson sent him several text messages wanting the gate key to gain access to his farmland on Highway 33. That friend told police that Harrelson got upset when he found out that police had questioned him about Pitt's disappearance and that he had told them about Harrelson wanting the key to the farm gate. The warrant says his friend told police "that Harrelson talked about killing himself.

The next day Harrelson was seriously injured in a traffic accident in Halifax County.

Among items seized at Harrelson's home include: a handwritten note, a Lowe's receipt, two scales, one belt, two pill bottles, two red stains from the kitchen floor, a closet rod, a bed sheet, a pocketbook with wallet, a computer, a bookshelf, and swabs.

The search warrant application listed multiple items to be seized by police including computers "and passwords that would provide evidence of relationship problems between Aimie Pitt & Ben Harrelson"

No one has been charged in connection with the disappearance of Pitt. WITN stopped at the home of Harrelson's parents and was told "no comment".

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Police have have now confirmed that the body of a white female was recovered from the home of a missing Tarboro woman.

Aimee Pitt was last seen on December 30th and reported missing on January 3rd.

Tarboro police say they still have not identified the body and they are awaiting autopsy results from the Medial Examiner's Office.

Police did confirm that they obtained a warrant to search the Newsome Street home, but have yet to turn that warrant back into the Clerk of Court's Office.

Tarboro Police say they did speak to Harrelson, before he was involved in a car accident as part of their missing person investigation.

The Highway Patrol in Halifax County says Harrelson was involved in a one car wreck at 2 a.m. on January 8. The report says Harrelson was driving 90 mph in a 55 mph zone on Highway 258 near Scotland Neck. Troopers say Harrelson drove left of center, struck an embankment and then a sign. The Highway Patrol says contributing factors to the wreck are listed as driving in a reckless and careless manner. No one else was in the vehicle.

Harrelson has been in Pitt County Memorial Hospital since the January 8 wreck. Detectives say they have been unable to ask him any questions since the crash because of his injuries. Detectives say this has hampered their investigation of what happened to Pitt.

Tarboro Police investigators say the search for Pitt has been their top priority for over two weeks. They say detectives have interviewed dozens of her friends by phone and in person, along with help from neighboring police departments and the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office.

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Tarboro police say there is still no identification Friday morning of the body of a female found Thursday in the town of Tarboro.

While police would not say whether they believe the body belongs to Aimee Pitt, crime scene tape and multiple police officers were seen at the home where Pitt lived on Newsome Street Thursday afternoon.

Neighbors tell WITN News the home actually belongs to her boyfriend and that there has never been this much police presence there since the woman disappeared.

Shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday, four officers, two of them wearing gloves, went into the house. Police later wrapped crime scene tape around the entire house.

The 22-year-old Pitt was last seen December 30th and just this past weekend around 50 friends, family and community members searched about 30 acres near where she was last seen.

In a news release late Thursday afternoon, police would only say they recovered the body of a white female within the town limits and that body is at an area medical facility for an autopsy and positive identification.

Tarboro Police say they did speak to Pitt's boyfriend, Ben Harrelson, before he was involved in a car accident as part of their missing person investigation.

The Highway Patrol in Halifax County says Harrelson was involved in a one car wreck at 2 a.m. on January 8. The report says Harrelson was driving 90 mph in a 55 mph zone on Highway 258 near Scotland Neck. Troopers say Harrelson drove left of center, struck an embankment and then a sign. The Highway Patrol says contributing factors to the wreck are listed as driving in a reckless and careless manner. No one else was in the vehicle.

Harrelson has been in Pitt County Memorial Hospital since the January 8 wreck. Detectives say they have been unable to ask him any questions since the crash because of his injuries. Detectives say this has hampered their investigation of what happened to Pitt.

Tarboro Police investigators say the search for Pitt has been their top priority for over two weeks. They say detectives have interviewed dozens of her friends by phone and in person, along with help from neighboring police departments and the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office.

it was not until Thursday that the Tarboro Police Department established probably cause to obtain a search warrant of Harrelson's home on Newsome St., where Pitt lived.

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